Safety
by radiant-gem
Summary: Naminé can't sleep, Terra is determined to fix that.


Rain was pounding against the window as thunder reverberated throughout the castle, making it quake in its presence. Terra groaned as his whole body stiffened in response to the thunder's loud boom, trying to block out the noise by covering both of his ears with his pillow. He knew it was pointless, but it was worth a shot.

"Great. . ." Terra begrudgingly got up from his bed and stretched his tense muscles in an attempt to relax them. Satisfied with the little relief he received, he decided to leave his room and walk around the castle.

The hallways were illuminated by the lightning that flashed outside, quickly followed by the dreadful sound of thunder. Terra stiffened again, and let out a harsh sigh. "If there's one thing I didn't miss about home, it's this." What came with the beautiful views of the stars and the overall landscape of the world was the close proximity of thunderstorms.

Terra was going to continue walking around when another flash of lightning appeared, and he heard a small yelp coming from a nearby room. His ears perked at the unfamiliar sound and he looked at the door that was slightly ajar. He knew it couldn't have been Ven or Aqua, he already passed by their rooms once his way here. Besides, they weren't afraid of thunderstorms. So that only left one other person.

"Naminé ?" Terra called. He walked over to the door and knocked lightly. "Are you okay?"

Before she could even respond, another flicker of lightning lit up the room, and she cried out in alarm.

Taking that as a negative, Terra entered and approached her bed, only to see a mass of blankets, a shelter of some sort from the lightning outside. His voice took a gentle tone, "Hey, it's okay, you're inside the castle, the lightning can't hurt you in here. You're safe."

Satisfied with the comforting words, Naminé poked her head out of her shelter and looked up at Terra. Her sapphire eyes were wide with panic and her bottom lip was trembling. Terra's heart broke a little at the sight, she looked like a wounded puppy.

Terra tried for a smile. "Can't sleep either huh?"

Naminé sniffed and shook her head silently.

"Something tells me it's not just the thunderstorm keeping you up, isn't it?"

She continued to stay quiet, but she gently nodded her head in affirmation.

Terra scratched the side of his head and said "Well, you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. But I know something that might help you relax and get back to sleep, if you wanna try it out."

The pitter patter of the rain hitting against the window was all that could be heard for a few seconds before a barely audible "Sure. . ." came out of Naminé's mouth.

"Great! Let's go." Terra smiled, and reached out his hand towards her.

Naminé stared at the invitation before shyly placing her hand in his. Terra gently enclosed his fingers around hers, his hand dwarfing it in comparison.

* * *

"The kitchen?"

"Yup."

"But why?"

"You'll see." Terra said with a sly grin.

Although he didn't know that much about Naminé yet, he hoped the tricks he used on Ven when he couldn't sleep had a similar effect on her. Even if it didn't help her go back to sleep, he hoped it'd at least calm her nerves down.

"Here you go." Terra said as he handed Naminé a hot cocoa.

"A drink?" she stared at the warm beverage, perplexed.

"Not just any drink. It's hot chocolate, or hot cocoa for short. It helps you when you can't sleep."

"Really?" Naminé started to inspect the drink, looking for any abnormal qualities. "So it has magic in it?" She tilted her head in curiosity.

"Er, well, no, not necessarily. It's just something Ven, Aqua and I drink when we can't sleep or when we're feeling scared. Go on, try it."

Naminé hummed in acknowledgement and took a sip from her mug. Her eyes perked up and a peaceful smile was on her face when she put the mug down. "You were right Terra. I feel so warm inside drinking this."

Terra chuckled softly, proud that he was able to make her feel better. "Good, then it means it's working."

They sat together in silence after that. The only sounds coming from Naminé sipping her hot cocoa, the distant rumbling of thunder, and the incessant rain hitting against the castle walls. It was a peaceful sort of silence, the type that's only present when the rest of the world is asleep. It reminded Terra of the days he'd come and perform the same routine with Ven to help him sleep, back when he still couldn't really speak. It evoked memories of sleepless nights he shared with Aqua, back when they were still getting used to the castle and it didn't take thunderstorms to keep him awake.

Terra was snapped out of his reverie when he heard Naminé whisper "Larxene."

"Huh? Sorry, I didn't hear you."

"The lightning. . . It-it reminds me of Larxene. She was one of the members of Organization XIII, and she had an affinity for lightning based magic." Naminé's eyes were downcast and her raised hand was trembling. She touched her cheek softly and let out a sigh. "I couldn't fall asleep because of it." She lowered her hand and placed it around her mug, finding comfort in the warmth it radiated.

Terra took all of what she said in and tried to find something appropriate to say. He honestly didn't expect Naminé to explain why she couldn't sleep, nor did he expect such a traumatic experience to be affiliated with just the sight of lightning. She didn't have to say it, but that small touch to the cheek was enough to put the pieces together.

"Naminé ," he laid his hand on her shoulder in support. "That took a lot of strength of heart for you to say."

Namine's head shot up in surprise, "Huh?"

Terra grinned proudly at her, "I'm sure it must've been difficult for you to tell me that. And you were able to face your fear head on by making it all the way down here from your room while the very thing you fear flashed every few seconds. I couldn't even do that when I was younger, I'd freeze when I saw it. You're only a few weeks old and you can walk halfway through the castle while a thunderstorm is going on. That's pretty impressive Naminé ."

Namine flushed at the praise "B-but you were there with me, holding my hand the entire time. And you helped me relax with this hot chocolate too. Besides," Naminé added with a shy smile, "you're easy to talk to."

Not expecting the show of gratitude, Terra scratched his cheek, embarrassed, "You're still way ahead of my younger self, even if Aqua was with me, I wouldn't budge. But uh, thanks."

Naminé gently shook her head, "No, thank you. This was really nice."

Content with the exchange, they sat in silence again until Naminé finished her mug. It was still raining just as hard as before, but the thunder was more of a low rumble than the loud boom that'd make the castle walls shake. Maybe then they could get some sleep.

As Terra washed the empty mug, he turned to Naminé and asked, "Do you think you'd be able to sleep now?"

Naminé's face was contemplative before she looked up at him. "Is the thunderstorm still going on?"

Terra nodded, "Mm."

Her face fell before she meekly shook her head, "I-I'm sorry, you must be tired right now. Let's go-"

"Hey, hey," Terra cut her off. "It's totally fine if you still don't feel like you can't sleep." He kindly smiled and said, "That's what Plan B is for."

"Plan B?"

* * *

"And that's how you make chocolate chip cookies," Terra said as he placed the cookie sheet into the oven. "Now we just gotta wait for them to bake."

Naminé's eyes were sparkling with excitement, her smile small but brimmed with giddiness. "They smell wonderful already."

Terra smiled warmly at her, seeing her this happy and conversational was enough to let him know she'd be okay. It was hard sometimes, just like it was with Ven, to know if she'd ever start to warm up to them, to know if she'd ever become comfortable enough with them to start conversations. But just like Ven, she just needed time and for them to be there for her.

"Hey! Are those cookies I smell?"

As if on cue, Ven ran towards the kitchen, looking around for the batch. "Don't tell me you guys at them all?"

Naminé giggled before pointing at the oven, "We just made them Ven."

Ven scratched his head sheepishly, "Oh. Whoops."

Terra went over and ruffled his head affectionately. "Hey kiddo, what're you doing up so late? Did the smell wake you up?" Terra teased.

Ven made a face at his hair being disheveled but made no effort to get out of his grip, "I kept falling asleep only to wake up again, until I smelled cookies and decided to come down here."

Overhearing the conversation, Naminé asked, "Would you like some hot chocolate then?"

Ven's eyes widened a bit in surprise, "How did you know I liked that?"

Naminé tilted her head "I didn't. But that's what Terra did for me when I couldn't sleep."

"Ohh, I see," Ven smiled knowingly at Terra. "Your methods haven't changed at all."

Terra shrugged, "Hey, they worked."

"Wow, everybody's having cookies and hot chocolate, and I wasn't invited?"

This time, it was Aqua who came in. Her hair was mussed from what must have been tossing and turning in her bed. Rather than walking it looked more like she was dragging her legs just to get to a seat, but she hid it with a tired smile. Or at least tried to anyway. Terra's brows furrowed in concern.

"Hey, couldn't sleep either?" Terra asked.

"Unfortunately," she avoided looking him in the eye, knowing nothing got passed him at this point, "Well, I suppose there is a bright side to it. I haven't had cookies in ages."

"Well, Namine helped me out baking them. She even added her own special touch." Terra looked over at her to see she was mixing chocolate syrup in a new mug. "Right Namine?"

"Huh?" Naminé flushed once she realized what he was referring to. Handing Ven the warm mug, she replied "Oh, it's nothing really."

Terra shook his head, "Trust me, I think you'll all like it."

"If Naminé made it, then I'll definitely like it. Even her hot chocolate is better than yours Terra." Ven added with a sly smile.

"Hey!"

"In that case, I'd like a hot chocolate too Naminé ," Aqua smirked.

Terra shot her an incredulous look, "You've got to be kidding me."

* * *

"Are those smiley faces?" Ven asked. "Nice touch Naminé !"

"This is adorable! I wonder why we never thought of doing this." Aqua said as she took a bite of a cookie.

"See? Told you they'd like it." Terra placed a hand on Naminé's shoulder. "Aren't you happy?"

The smile on her face was positively radiant. It wasn't small and shy, like her usual ones. She was beaming with pride and joy. Too overwhelmed for words, she nodded.

"We totally need to do this more often." Ven said as he bit into another cookie.

"Mm, I agree." Aqua sent a teasing glance at Terra, "And maybe invite me next time."

Terra rolled his eyes playfully, "Yes dear."

The four of them continued to chatter even after all the cookies were gone. Even after cleaning the kitchen and the table, even when drowsiness hung at Terra's eyelids, he still didn't want to go to bed. It almost felt like being a child again.

At the end of it all, it was evident that even Naminé was tired from the way she struggled to keep her eyes open.

Aqua yawned and slurred, "I thin is time to go to slee. . ."

Although it was subtle, he saw Naminé's shoulders tense. Unfortunately, the thunderstorm was still present, even if it was farther away than it was before, that wouldn't stop them from seeing the lightning in the distance.

Ven seemed to notice as well and suggested, "Hmm. . . Hey, you know what else we haven't done in a while?"

* * *

"A sleepover?" Naminé asked.

"Yup!" Ven replied as he laid out the pillows on the living room floor. "Terra, Aqua and I would usually sleep together in the same bed whenever there were nights when we couldn't sleep."

"You mean when _you_ couldn't sleep," Terra teased.

Ven blushed. "Yeah, well, you know."

Naminé giggled at the exchange. Terra knew of Ven's efforts to get her to be more comfortable at the castle. Now that she was here, he was no longer the baby of the group (or so he thought) and decided to take it upon himself to show her the ropes around the Land of Departure. Whether it was helping her out in training, or just spending time with her, he tried acting as a sort of older brother figure for her to look up to. Which made it extra fun to get a rise out of him in front of her.

Clearing his throat, Ven continued "Anyway, it always helped me out when I was too scared to go back to sleep. So maybe it'll help you too."

Terra and Aqua spread out the comforter under the pillows as Aqua looked over at Naminé , "If you don't feel comfortable you don't have to hide it okay? It might not be your thing, and we don't want you to feel obligated to stay."

Naminé nodded in acknowledgement, "Mm, thank you."

Once the preparations were done, they all went under the sheets. Ventus an and Namine were in the center, with Aqua resting beside Naminé and Terra beside Ven. Ven laid flat on his back while Naminé was in fetal position, though trying not to come into contact to Ven and Aqua's bodies.

Ven chuckled. "Namine, I hope you know it's not bad to lean against us. That's what we're here for."

"Ven's right, it's totally normal." Aqua added.

"Oh, really? I wasn't sure. . ." Naminé shyly leaned against Ven's shoulder. "Like this?"

Ven leaned his head against hers and smiled warmly. "There ya go." He looked at Terra and Aqua his eyes widened in realization, "Hey Terra, Aqua, you should do the thing."

Terra and Aqua shared a knowing look and smiled softly at Ven. Aqua feigned contemplation and hummed, "Hmm. . . Should we?"

"Yeah! It'll help Naminé feel safe."

Terra's smile turned playful, "Like it did for you?"

Ven flinched and turned towards Terra, exasperated, " _Terra_."

"Alright alright." Terra chuckled lightheartedly and reached his hand out towards Aqua. Aqua joined their hands with hers, and let their hands rest above Ven and Naminé 's forms.

Eyes heavy with sleep and ready to pass out at any second, Terra looked over at Naminé , and his heart warmed at the sight of the relaxed smile on her face. Her breathing was slow enough to tell she fell asleep.

Ven was already long gone, if he couldn't already tell by the boy's gentle snores. Thankfully, even Aqua found solace in the sleepover, her breathing just as steady as Namine's.

Content with the way things turned out, he closed his eyes and listened to the receding sound of the rain. No longer able to hear the distant boom of thunder, or the rain tapping against the castle walls, his body relaxed and he drifted off into a peaceful slumber.


End file.
